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Wednesday, 8 July 2015

High Cost Of Governance, Bane Of Nigeria’s Development

Piqued
by the increased cost of governance in the country, a group, Concerned
Nigerians in the Diaspora, has condemned the development saying it is
immoral.

According to the group which is made up of
Nigerians living outside the shores of the country, the cost of running
Nigeria’s democracy is too high judging from recent revelations on the
wastefulness and profligacy of the National Assembly especially given
their alleged penchant for lack of accountability and corruption.

The group found it guilty, unequivocally and without mincing words, the
wardrobe allowance practice, amongst other grossly excessive salaries
and allowances, as recently awarded or deemed due to members of the
NASS.

In
a statement, signed by Olu Alaba Alakija, he said, “we are worried that
at this time of dire economic situation that has hit our dear country
as well as in this period when we look forward towards the actualisation
of the change that Nigerians have yearned for and finally got at the
last elections, our recently convened eighth National Assembly has
decided to conform with the unwholesome norm of ‘business as usual’ by
accepting the huge immoral wardrobe allowance like their predecessors.

“It
is an obnoxious, inconsiderate, insensitive and selfish move by anyone
seeking to serve the public good to move for such massive pay in the
light of general poverty of the 160 million people of Nigeria, where
several state governments and even the Federal Government are in deficit
of payments of workers’ salaries for up to seven months; where the
healthcare sector is in tatters and the education and employment of our
youths have suffered for many decades.”

He
stated that Nigerian politicians have turned themselves into instant
millionaires just for being in government, paying themselves huge,
obscene and unjustified salaries and allowances not commensurate with
their very low productivity and without doing anything worthwhile for
the country or humanity

“For
the past sixteen years, the National Assembly have had no visible
impacts of their representations on the lives of Nigerians, so why are
we funding their expensive lifestyles, and getting zero in return? What
kind of legitimate work can anybody do in Nigeria that will fetch such
atrocious remuneration or salary?” he queried.

According
to him, “the obscene salaries and perks are what is attracting
unscrupulous and dubious political charlatans to the serious business of
governance and law-making, and this is why they will always rig
elections, commit murder and assassinations to position themselves where
they will steal, shutting out genuine and sincere democrats who want to
do well for the welfare of their people.

“This
has got to stop. One way it can stop is to start by reducing very
drastically the remuneration of lawmakers and that of other political
office holders in such a way that it will be unattractive to potential
thieves and looters, and that only people who sincerely want to serve
will see such small remuneration as enough motivation to contest
elections to these offices and be committed to good governance and
delivering desired results.”

He
noted that Nigeria does not need a full time bicameral legislature.
What is needed is a unicameral legislature that will meet for a maximum
of 30 days or so a year and afterwards, they would go back to whatever
their various professions are.

“The
viability of our federalism has a question mark to it given the
beggarly manner State Governors and their Finance Commissioners lay
siege on Abuja, cap in hand for federal allocation. Our federating units
called States are simply not looking viable.

“This
Presidential system, although looking a good option, is not being
operated properly by the political class. In a country and society as
corrupt as ours, we now know that it is very open to gross abuse by
unscrupulous and self-seeking politicians.

“We
are firmly and definitely of the opinion that legislative work in
Nigeria should be a part-time commitment. Only persons with a visible
means of livelihood should be allowed to become lawmakers, and the
various Chambers do not have to sit so often.”

However,
the group appealed to the leadership of the eighth National Assembly as
convened to, as a matter of urgency, lead by example by renouncing and
rejecting the wardrobe allowance. This will go a long way to set agenda
for the much avowed change mantra of the new administration

“We want the National Assembly to immediately set in motion the process
of reviewing the jumbo salaries and insensitive allowances of its
members in conformity with current reality of the Nigerian economy so
that the legislature can lead in the crusade against abnormalities in
wages and allowances in a way that it will be effective in its oversight
functions over the executive arm.”

The
group also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to live up to his
campaign promises of ensuring fiscal responsibility, accountability and
putting an end to impunity in all arms of government, including the
civil service

The group urged state governments owing workers’
salaries to address the problem urgently without fail, and to address
same issues of waste and impunity in resource management in their
respective states.